At Clio’s inaugural Innovate Legal event in Sydney on Tuesday, 28 October, Clio’s CEO and Founder Jack Newton took to the stage alongside Caralee Fontenele, Director at Scalable Law and Sean Aylmer, host of Australia’s #1 business podcast Fear and Greed, for a special live podcast recording.
The session focused on a crucial topic shaping the future of legal technology, data portability. Caralee shared her personal experiences with this issue, reflecting on her firm’s journey to greater flexibility and control of their data with Clio, after 16 years on Leap. You can read more about her story here.
Adding weight to the discussion, Clio’s latest insights in The State of Legal Tech 2025: Data Insights Report sheds light on a troubling trend:
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71% of lawyers say their firm has experienced legal tech providers withholding or delaying access to their own data.
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Some firms have been forced to pay up to $25,000 just to retrieve client files and case documents.
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Data extraction delays average four weeks, with 85% of firms waiting two weeks or longer.
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Only 39% of lawyers believe they could easily export or migrate their documents to a new provider.
The findings reveal that more than 1 in 3 Australian law firms face $25,000+ fees and month-long delays simply to access their own data when switching providers. This isn’t just a financial burden—it slows down lawyers, impacts clients, and stifles innovation across the legal tech sector.
Jack Newton summed it up nicely: “Technology should empower lawyers, not hold their data hostage.”
Listen to the full interview here or you can watch it on YouTube!
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